I learned a great deal from Mom and Dad about leadership. In my youth, I would not have called it Leadership 101; but, looking back, that’s what it was.

Following my parent’s divorce, my mother, looking to take her mind off herself and the hurt she was feeling, took a job in housekeeping for a local Holiday Inn. She certainly had the skill-set for housekeeping—our home was always neat and clean. As I was growing up, I was assigned certain household chores that were my strict Saturday morning priority. Mom’s motto regarding housekeeping was so logical as to make it irrefutable. She maintained, “Everything has a place, and everything in its place makes for a neat home.”

Her ability to do her job with pride and an element of joy made her stand out at the Holiday Inn, and within weeks she was offered the job as head of housekeeping. Amazingly, the women she worked with, all of whom had been there much longer than my mother, made very little fuss about her quick “rise to the top.” I am certain it was because they had witnessed her dedication to what some might consider a mundane job and her innate fairness and impartiality.

Leadership 101 from Mom:

-Bloom where you are planted.
-Treat everyone, no matter their race or their lifestyle, with dignity and respect.
-Be fair.
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My father was loved by almost everyone he worked with and for. He was a very fun guy to be around, but not at the expense of his assignments. He believed in doing it right the first time and thereby avoiding an inevitable do-over. He loved to work, finding great satisfaction in his efforts; and when he was promoted to supervisor he was able to maintain a vivid picture of where he had come from.

I can remember my father telling me when I was a teenager, “Honey, I don’t care if you dig ditches for a living; but you be the best ditch digger ever!”

Leadership 101 from Dad:

-Always do your best.
-Remember that everyone has a boss.
-Never ask anyone to do something that you would not do.
-Remember, there is nobility in honest work, regardless of its description.

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I soaked these truths in early in my career and over the years came up with a list of my own. It embodies all of their truths—plus a couple.

Leadership 101 from Me:

Most folks begin their careers as individual contributors. In this capacity it is important to bring your best effort every day and don’t worry about future advancement; that will come with time. Your workmates will sense when and if you are trying to be “cut from the herd” at their expense and it will cost you reputationally down the road.

Realize as an individual contributor you are no less a leader than the CEO of the company. In fact, as an individual contributor you are in a better position to influence people for the better because they can witness your example every day. Don’t take that responsibility lightly.

When you finally make the leap to supervisor or manager, remember your reputation will arrive about three days before you do. Guard it fiercely as you climb the ladder.

As a supervisor or a manager, realize the word “individual” has been cut from your job description. It is simply no longer about you; it is about your people. The increase in salary that you experience as a supervisor can be justified only if you bring out the collective and individual best in your people.

As a formal leader in an organization, one of your responsibilities is to make decisions. Get all the input you have time for, but make the decision.

One of your most difficult supervisory decisions will be to terminate someone’s employment. Be certain the case against them is accurate and fair, and then do what you must do. The person’s co-workers will find it very difficult not to sympathize with the employee who has broken the rules and must go; BUT, that doesn’t mean that they think you have not done the right thing.

Last, but not least—and this one comes from General Colin Powell—as you are allowed input into the choice of new supervisors, look for both competence and character. But, if one of those must go a bit lacking, always let it be competence. Never let character go lacking in a leader.